Memory of a Fox
by andrew.hark90
Summary: When Ino tries to use her mind jutsu on Sakura she finds something that makes both of them see Naruto in a new light.


Hey guys first fanfiction so please be understanding.

I Do Not Own Naruto

Chapter One- Remembering a Friend

Konohagakure No Sato, The Village Hidden in the Leaves, one of the five great hidden villages that reside in the Elemental Nations. Being a shinobi village that hold the ninja that weild the 'Will of Fire.' Leading this village is the Hokage, one of the leading shadows of the five great ninja villages. Within Konoha lay the homes of many citizens both civilian and ninja alike that make up the population of this part of the Land of Fire.

It is within this villages academy a young blonde kunoichi sits thinking of a plan to win over her crush the great brooding Uchiha Sasuke.

'I've got to find a way to gain Sasuke-kun's heart before billboard brow does.' the yound blonde thought as her eyes looked from Sasuke, the dark haired boy brooding in his seat by the window, to her former friend Haruno Sakura, the pink haired girl sitting two rows ahead of her. At one point in time the pinkette and her had been the closest of friends since the time she recalled defending the pink haired girl.

Flashback

A young pink-haired girl was sitting up against a tree with her knees up to her chest and tears streaming down her cheeks. Infront of the girl were two other girls with a third named Ami leading them as they make fun of the young Sakura.

"Look at that giant forhead, it's so big and ugly. Why would anyone wanna be friends with the likes of you." Ami mocked her with her hands on her hips. She had dark purple hair, wore a red skirt, and had a lighter purple shirt with stripes going down the front. Her and the other two girls continously throwing insults like this and others at the young girl infront of them.

"P-please just leave m-me alone." Sakura cried to them hoping to get them to get away from her. She was sick of being mocked because of her large forhead and pink hair, as it was common for other girls in the academy to do.

"Oh? Why should we? Your the one that makes yourself such a big target with that giant forhead of yours." replied Ami as she bent down looking to flick the girls forhead with her middle finger.

"Leave her alone Ami." another voice spoke up behind the girls, stopping her before she could follow through with it. This girl had short blonde hair and sky blue eyes while being around the same age as Sakura was. "You just jealous that she looks better than you do." This comment got the three girls mad, making them storm away as the young blonde walked up and kneeled next to Sakura, who was shocled by the young blondes kind words and compliments. "Hello my names Yamanaka Ino." she said as she smiled at the young pinkette.

"H-hello." Sakura sniffed still unsure of why this girl had helped her. "M-my n-name is S-Sakura."

Flashback Kia

That had been the day they had met and become friends, one of the happiest memories the two girls shared. Ino had always looked out for Sakura and the two had remained closer than sisters since. Ino smiled as she remembered that day, yet she frowned a second later as she remebered the day their friendship ended as well, the day they became rivals for love.

They had both been in the flower arranging class made for kunoichi only. During the class they had ended up talking about the current boy interest that had caught the eye of quite a few girls, Uchiha Sasuke. As they were talking about this topic, Sakura had asked Ino if she had an interest in Saskue. When Ino had told her that she did, Sakura frowned a little and with a hint of sadness in her eyes, told Ino that made them rivals for Sasuke's affections. This had brought their friendship to a halt, something that Ino regretted to this day, but would never let it be known.

Ino was brought out of her thinking as the bell signaled that classes were over for the day, causing students to start leaving the academy to go home. Noticing this, Ino suddenly had a stoke of genius when she had the idea to use her clans mind walking jutsu to gain the upper hand against Sakura so that she could win Sasuke. With this idea in mind, she rushed to go find her one time friend to put her plan in action.

Finding a hiding spot for her body along the route that she knew Sakura would take to get home, Ino calmly waited for the pink haired academy student to walk by. After waiting about five minutes she finally saw her rival calmly walking down the road, oblivious to the Yamanaka heiress geting ready to perform her jutsu on her. When she had the perfect oppertunity, Ino quickly made the hand sign for her families technique and carefully molded the required chakra while whispering "Mind Walking Jutsu!" Sending her into the mind of her once best friend.

*Inside Sakura's Mindscape*

Ino opened her eyes to find herself in a long pink walled hallway lined with many doors, each labeled something different. Smiling to herself she started slowly walking past many doors while reading the signs on them. She was trying to find any type of memory with info she could use to win Sasuke and come out on top in their rivalry.

As she continued checking out each door, she finally came to a door that had a bunch of weird looking black markings over it all connecting to a symbol that represented her clan in the center of the door. This represented a memory that had been mentally locked away by her clan making it so she wouldnt remember the memory. Looking at the label of the door she read something that peaked her curiosity not only because of the subject but also due to her wondering why this type of memory was blocked. The label read 'First Friend' on it making Ino think it was something about her. Deciding she needed to know what and why this memory was blocked, the young heiress touched her clan seal, in doing so releasing the block and unlocking the door, allowing it to swing wide open.

Walking into the room the door shut behind her as the memory started to play, and what was shown was not what she expected.

Memory Flashback

A five year old Sakura was in the woods near the park, surrounded by three boys all looking to be 8 years of age. The three boys were all making fun of her for being weak and the look of her forehead. They continued to taunt the crying pink haired 5 year old as she was against a tree with her knees held close to her chest.

The boys just continued to make fun of her until the leader of the three decided to take it up a notch and grabbed a hand full of the girls hair and pulled hard. Immediately after the young Sakura cried out in pain, an orange blur came out of nowhere and hit the boy sending him to the ground. Looking closely you could see the blur to be a young 5 year old boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, three whiskermarks on each cheek, and wearing a white t-shirt with neon orange shorts. The boy was Naruto Uzumaki the prankster king from hell, only here he was five years old.

Naruto had hit the leader right in the face sending him to the ground, making him let go of the girls hair. After he had hit the lead boy he looked at all three of the bullies with a look of anger on his face, making the boys smile turn into a look a horror.

"You know, i can't stand bullies that beat up on others. Now Leave or ill beat the crap out of all three of you." Naruto said in a cold voice. His eyes that normally shined with a bright happy blue color the shade of the sky on a sunny day were now staring the boys down with an icy gaze.

"H-hey, isn't that the kid that our parents said was a m-monster?" one of the other two boys stuttered in fear, his body shaking.

"Yeah it is, lets get out of here!" the other standing boy yelled as all three of the boys ran away from fear of the so called 'Monster' getting them.

Turning around, the blonde hair five year old walked up to the yound girl and knelt down in front of her. "Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt at all?" Naruto calmly asked the crying and frightened girl that still sat agaisnt the tree, but was now looking at him.

"N-no I-I'm n-not h-hurt." the young pinkette replied to the boys, a look of curiosity and fear on her face.

Smiling at the girl, Naruto offered her an outstreched hand. "My names Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage. What's yours?" he asked the girl, a feeling of hope of getting a friend welling up inside him.

"My name's Sakura, Sakura Haruno. It's nice to m-meet you, Naruto-kun." the young girl said, while cautiously shaking his hand. Slowly she started to feel safe around this boy that had just protected her. Her tears had stopped and she showed a small smile to the blonde boy. No one had ever come to her aid like he had, and she was hoping she would finally get a new friend.

"That's a pretty name." the young boy replied earning a blush from Sakura. "Hey, Sakura. Would you like to be my friend?" Naruto asked as a hopeful look appeared on his face, while insed he was worried about being rejected like all the other times he tried to make new friends.

The pink haired girl's face brightened instantly. He actually wanted to be friends with her! She was gonna make her first friend ever! "Of course Naruto-kun, I'd love to be your friend." Sakura replied immediately, earning the most breathtaking smile from the boy.

Memory Flashback Kia

The memory ended, leaving a surprised Ino who was also smiling. She never would have expected Naruto to have stood up for Sakura, but the more she thought about it the more his crush on the pinkette made sense. Sakura had become Narutos first friend, yet all these thoughts led her to one question she kept wondering about. Why was this memory sealed away.

Exiting the room and returing to the hallway, Ino quickly ended her jutsu. She needed to talk to her father about what she found.

*Outside*

Ino woke up back in her body, still hidden in her the spot she chose to keep her body hidden. Quickly getting up she looked back to the spot Sakura had been to find the pink haired girl frozen in her place with tears coming down her cheeks. Deciding to throw caution to the wind she quickly ran out from her hiding spot towards her rival. As she approached, Sakura took notice of her old friend and quickly latched onto the Yamanaka heiress with ahug as she cried on her shoulder.

"Ino, I remember! I remember Naruto-kun!" Sakura repeated over and over to the blonde girl, happy that she remembered, yet horrified about what she put her favorite whiskered boy though for the past six years. All the berating, the head hitting, all the times she made fun of her first friend. "Oh my kami!" she exclaimed, "What have i done!"

Ino, realising that her once again friend didnt know the memory was sealed, immediately pulled away from the embrace and looked at her newly re-aquired friend. "Sakura listen." she replied gaining her friends attention, all the while tears continuing to stream down the pinkettes face. "That memory was blocked by my clan, i don't know why but we should go talk to my dad and explain this to him, he should know what to do. Okay?"

Sakura just simply nodded her head, still crying as she allowed her friend to lead her towards the Yamanaka flower shop to talk to Inoichi, the clan head and Ino's father. The entire way there hoping she could make it up to her first friend ever, and hoping even more that he would forgive her.


End file.
